Amusement conveyer belt



Feb. 23 1926.

H. F. MAYNES AMUSEMENT CONVEYER BELT Filed June 23, 1925 2 Shets-Sheet -1 INVENTbK A; ATTORNEYS- Feb. 23 1 926.

; H. F. MAYNES AMUSEMENT CONVEYER BELT Filed June 23, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet INVENTOR y 9, M/6M :Lk ATTORNE YS' Patented Feb. 23, 1925.

oar-res PATENT --o-Friee.

ii'rtn liIAXliTES, b1, ifirdnrn e em es. new reek, ns srenoit 'rolifiiititns Con- PORATION, OF DOVER, DELAWARE, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

sameness ooNvEYEic "iaEL'r.

Application filed :rlm as, 1925. Serial No 38,993;

To (ZZZ whom it may] Concern:

Be it known that I, IIYLX F. MAYNES, a citizen of the United States, residing at North Tonawanda, in the county of Niagara, State of New York; have invented certain new and useful lin'provenients in Amusement Conveyor Belts; and I do here-- by declare the following to be a full, clear,

and exact description of the inventioi'i, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. I p h I p This invention relates to ainu'seinen't apparatus, and particularly to an "amusement appa-ratus in the form of a conveyer belt designed to carry passengers and subject them, during their-passage, to inoveinents unexpected. Broadly, the apparatus of the present invention comprises a series of drunis over which a passenger-carrying conveyer belt is moved, the ax es of the druins being set at diiferent angles, and the shapes of some oi thein being irregular. By vir-v we of these shapes and positions the passengers are sub ected to an undulat1'ng, rocking, and bumping motio as the belt moves forward. As the passengers are intended to stand upon this belt, I also provide an adjacent movable hand rail or pair of hand rails in the form of straps. These hand rail straps are driven with the niain' eonveyer belt, and like the former also move over irregular shaped pulleys so that they inove forward in an irregular manner, Thus, the combination of an undulating and rocking floor and an unsteadyhand support is, to say the least, disconcerting. The belt which I preferably use is an endless belt of the chain type and is niade up of a series of spaced links. The drums are providet with sprocket teeth which cooperate with the chain belt to drive it The belt being slotted also enables me to add another feature of interest, namely, a blower which I situate beneath the upper run of the belt and blow a blast of air upwardly through the slots between the links, either continuously or at odd intervals; which sudden blasts further add to the amusement as well as the discolnfiture of the passengers. In accordance with the present invention I have also devised safety tread which per? inits passengers readily to step'on and of? the moving belt. This tread coinprises a casting having a series of forwardly extending fingers which lie Within: the spaces or grooves between the links ofthe chain.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrateda preferred embodiment of my invention which I shall now describe in (lo-- tall. In-these drawings, Figure 1 1s a side Inthese drawings 1 represents the name which suppor the apparatus. Upon this frame are mounted the journals .of a series of sprocket drums 2''10 over .whi'chpasse a pa:senger-carrying, chain belt 12.. On either side of'thi s belt i'sin'ounted an end less movable strap 13 .tlie upper run of wh ch is situated. a; suitable distance above the upper run of the belt 12 and acts as a hand raiLfor the passengers standing upon the main belt; This endless hand rail passes over a series ofpulleys 14 -17.

The upper run of the conveyer beltis not stretched taut across the supporting drums, but isloose enouglrtoiorm a succession oi? hills and dales; thus, .thepassengers in proceedingalong the belt are subjected to an undulating inotion. It will also be noted that the axes of all of the Sprocket. drums, with the exceptio n of drums at and 5, are horizontal... But ithe near end of drum l; as viewed in Figure-1, tips downward froin the horizontal, and the near end of drum 5 tips upwardgthe result being that in passing from drum to drum 6, the passengersare subjected not oniyto an undulating, but to a-rocking motion as well. All of the drun'is, with the exception of. drums 8 and 9 are circular in cross-section. But these two drums are not circula; they are elliptical, so that .the passenger iii passing over them is gentlyraised and lowered as well as undulated' by the mer contour of the belt passing over the'drinns. p

Pulleys 14c, 15 and 16 over-which the hand rail paises are circular. Pulley 17 however, is not circular;'butelliptic al, and as this is the drivihgpulley for therailg'the. result is that therail'nioves forward irregularly and 'lel spaces or grooves between them.

at varying rates of speed. There is sufficient slack in the rail strap to permit this movement. This slack also causes the upper run of the strap to rise and fall with the revolution of the pulley 17 The conveyer 12 is made up of a series of parallel spaced links 18 pivotally connected by means of pins 19 and spacer links 20, these latter being substantially one-half the depth'of the links 18 as illustrated most clearly in Figure 1. As a result of this construction the upper face of the belt presents a series of parallel ridges formed by the links 18 with a series of interposed parat I l drums 210 are provided upon their peripheries with a series of. sprocket teeth 21 which roll into the spaces between the spacer links 20 and in cooperation with the latter move the belt.

The manner in which the apparatus is driven will be clear from an inspection of Figures 1 and 2, but may be briefly described as follows: Power is received from any desired source through a belt 22 and a drive shaft 23 through the pulley 24. Upon this shaft 23 are three bevel pinions 25 which mesh with similar pinions 26 on the shafts of drums 2, 6 and 10' respectively. Drum 2, through a chain and sprocket connection 27 drives drum 3, which drum through a series of bevel pinions 28' drives drum 4. In a similar manner drum 5 is driven from drum 6and drums 7, 8 and 9 from drum 10. The handrails are also driven from drum 2 by means of a chain and sprocket connection 29 with pulley 17.

At the forward end of the apparatus is located a loading platform 31 and at the other end a discharge platform 32. Each of these platforms is provided with a safety tread 33 in the form of a casting having a series of projecting fingers 34 which extend within the spaces between the links 18, shown most clearly in Figure 4, By means of these treads the passengers are able to step 011 and off the belt with ease and without danger of tripping.

In order to add interest and excitement, I mount upon the frame 1, between drums 6 and 7, a blower 35 driven by means of a motor 86'. This blower directs a blast of ing goes through the various contortions for which it is designed, the passengers hold for their lives to the rail 13. But this alas proves to be a broken reed and is no more to be relied upon than the belt 12 itself. I prefer so to gear the various parts so that as the elliptical drums 8 and 9 raise the passengers the elliptical pulley 17 will permit the upper run of the hand rail to drop, and when the drums 8 and 9 are letting the passengers down, the hand rail 13 will be raised to tautness.

I claim:

1. An amusement apparatus comprising the combination of a passenger-carrying con veyer belt, means for imparting a forward and undulating motion to the belt, a movable hand rail adjacent the belt, and means for imparting an uneven motion thereto.

2. An amusement apparatus comprising the combination of a passenger-carrying conveyer belt, a plurality of drums for supporting and advancing the belt, the axes of certain of thedrums being inclined relative to those of the others to impart an undulating and rocking motion to the'belt.

3. An amusement apparatus comprising the combination of a passenger-carrying conveyer belt, a plurality of drums for supporting and advancing the belt, the axes of certain of the drums being horizontal, and the axes of one being inclined in one direction and that of another in another direction to impart an undulating and rocking motion to the belt.

4. An amusement apparatus comprising the combination of a passenger-carrying conveyer belt, a plurality of drums for supporting and advancing the belt, certain of the drums being circular in cross-section and certain others non-circular so that an irregular undulating motion is imparted to the combination of a slotted, passengercarrying belt, means for imparting a forward and undulating motion to the belt and means for directing a blast of air upward through the belt.

7. An amusement apparatus comprising the combination of a passenger-carrying belt, a movable hand rail adjacent the belt, a non-circular pulley over which the hand rail passes and means for moving the belt and the hand rail.

S. An amusement apparatus comprising the combination of a passengencarrying eonv-eyer belt, a plurality of irregularly disposed and shaped drums for advancing the belt and imparting an uneven motion thereto, a movable hand rail adjacent the belt, a plurality of pulleys for supporting and ad vancing the hand rail, one of said pulleys being non-circular to impart an irregular motion to the hand rail.

9. An amusement apparatus comprising the combination of an endless passengercarrying belt, provided With laterally spaced links forming continuous longitudinal grooves in the iiaee of the belt, drums over which the belt passes, and a stationary tread situated above an end drum and provided *ith fingers extending between the links.

In testimony whereof I affiX my signature.

HYLA F. MAYNES. 

